Animal I Am
by Kiliro
Summary: Ari's side of the story after Jeb left with Max and the Flock.


**Author's Note: Ok, so, I listened to Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace, and I decided to make a fanfic on Ari. It was supposed to be a songfic, but I decided to make it an actual fanfiction. :) Enjoy, and review!

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"_Dad!" I yelled. "DAD! Where are you going?" He didn't reply. He didn't even turn around. He didn't even look at me. I burst into tears and collapsed to the ground. _

_Suddenly, I felt rough hands grab me. I struggled and yelled again. He wouldn't turn around. I stopped struggling.

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_

"Come on, kid. Get going," a voice came out of the darkness. I opened my eyes. I expected it to be dark, but the room was bathed in light. Or so I thought.

"What- what happened?" I growled. I mean, I _tried _saying it like a normal 7 year old should, but that's how it came out.

Needless to say, I didn't feel like a 7-year-old anymore. I felt… horrible. As if my skin had stretched over huge muscles that didn't belong to me. My mouth was on fire. I tasted blood. I felt fur on me. I could see a muzzle protruding from my face. My eyes widened.

The whitecoat sneered. "How does it feel? To be a monster, I mean." I blinked. No… This wasn't possible. He was lying, right?

I turned to my right and saw a mirror. And a monster in it. A monster that was me.

The whitecoat started laughing. "How- how could you?" I asked slowly. "How could you turn me into an Eraser?"

He sneered again. "Easy. We tore you apart and made you part-wolf. Isn't science wonderful?"

I closed my eyes and started trembling in anger. "No. No, it's not." I looked up and slowly, infinitely slowly, began to advance toward the guy. His smile disappeared.

"Yo, monster. Stop it. I have orders to bring you to the Director," he said, trying to regain the upper hand.

It was my turn to sneer. Of course, it was wolfish, since I was in wolf form, but it was still more frightening than his.

I continued advancing until I was barely an inch away from him. I could see him struggling to remain calm. I laughed.

"You're gonna die, now," I said. His eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to yell, but I didn't leave him the time. I twisted his neck and broke it.

He collapsed to the ground, limp, and dead. My eyes widened.

I shook my head and backed off slowly. It was dawning on me that I had just killed a man. For a good reason, sure, but still. _I'd killed a man._

I continued backing off until I reached the wall. I fell to the ground, back against the wall, and I put my head in my hands. Or at least _tried _to. My head was a wolf's head, and my hands had claws. Not the best thing to try.

Suddenly, I heard a woman laugh. I looked up to see the Director laughing at me. "How did it feel to kill a man?" she asked.

I frowned. "Go away," I growled.

"Now, now, this is most certainly not the way to talk to your mother," she said condescendingly. My eyes widened.

"My- my mother?"

"Yes. I am your mother."

I shook my head, as if to clear it. How was this possible? How could this monster be my mother? And if she was my mother, why had she turned _me _into a monster?

"Come on, let's go. I have a mission for you."

Tears in my eyes, I got up and followed her. She led me to another room where about 5 or 6 Erasers were waiting.

"This is your new team leader," she told the others. "Ari Batchelder."

I blinked. Me? Leader? No way.

The others seemed to feel the same way. "Him? But he's seven? Besides, he's not natural. He's an actual monster," one of them said. He was evidently the strongest one.

I growled and flashed my elongated canines. I advanced towards him. "What did you say?" I said in a low voice.

He laughed, stood up, and transformed. He was a good head taller than me, and probably had twice as much muscle as me. But he didn't have my fury.

We started fighting. In about two minutes, I had my teeth on his throat, and he couldn't move. That's when the Director butted in. "Enough, Ari. Let him live. You've proven your point. Now, both of you, get up."

I snarled and stood up. He whimpered, transformed back to human form, and cowered in his seat. I sneered.

"Now, he's your leader. You follow orders, you don't rebel. If you do, your expiration date will come in very early," the Director said before leaving me with my new team. They didn't dare look into my eyes. I was more powerful. They knew that now.


End file.
